Red Wings may fill Joe Louis this season after all

The Detroit Red Wings played host to the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 10, 2011 at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit beat Winnipeg 7-1. Detroit ranked No. 4 in home attendance during the 2011-12 season with an average 20,114 tickets sold for home games.

DETROIT -

After a more than 100-day lockout of its season, the NHL and players put together a tentative agreement Sunday morning.

The agreement could mean the Detroit Red Wings will once again fill the seats of Joe Louis Arena. The team would be expected ready to play in two just weeks.

The agreement must still be approved by players and owners. But if it's a go, then the second half of the season could be played. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said any abbreviated regular season should probably have a minimum of 48 games per team.

It's not clear when the Red Wings first home game would be or who their first opponent would be.

"Don Fehr and I are here to tell you that we have reached an agreement on the framework of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the details of which need to be put to paper," said Bettman in a news release posted to NHL.com. "We have to dot a lot of I's and cross a lot of T's. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the basic framework has been agreed upon. We have to go through a ratification process and the Board of Governors has to approve it from the League side and, obviously, the players have to approve it as well. We are not in a position to give you information right now about schedule, when we are starting. It's early in the morning and we have been at this all day and all night, obviously. But, we will be back to you very shortly, hopefully, later today with more information in that regard."

According to the schedule set before the lockout, the Red Wings would play the Phoenix Coyotes Jan. 15 in Phoenix and host the Vancouver Canucks Jan. 17.

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